-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- What is it about Christmas music that enters our very souls , calms us and even gets us to do things that are right for humanity ? This music even has the ability to make us like our old Aunt Emily . If there were a marketing campaign for Christmas , it would be the most successful campaign ever devised .

Paintings of angels protecting sheep or a masterly rendition of the manger scene certainly evoke emotion . Then there 's a good Christmas story . In 1843 , Charles Dickens gave us `` A Christmas Carol . '' This literary gift had the power to make us actually give a farthing or two to the needy .

However , it is music and song that has no rival in the ability to stir raw emotions . It does n't matter what your religious persuasion is . Most people can recite and hum the Christmas carols they 've heard repeatedly since childhood .

Among the most familiar are the pop songs : `` Santa Claus is Coming To Town , '' which the Four Seasons , Bruce Springsteen and Bing Crosby all performed ; Gene Autry 's `` Here Comes Santa Claus '' ; Elvis Presley 's `` Blue Christmas '' ; and Brenda Lee 's `` Rockin ' Around the Christmas Tree . ''

Then there 's one that the marketers made sure really goes for the heart -- `` I 'll Be Home for Christmas '' -- and the line , `` if only in my dreams . '' I forgot how lonely and depressed I was until I heard that song . The `` home for Christmas '' notion originates during World War I , when U.S. soldiers expected a quick victory , thinking they 'd be back in the United States in time for the holidays . That was not the case , and the song was a huge hit decades later -- in 1943 . Speaking of hits , there 's `` White Christmas '' -- more than 500 different recordings were made of this song ; which was originally written for the movie `` Holiday Inn . ''

These songs conjure up old family photos of relatives here and long gone . We say , `` Oh my , look here 's an old tintype of Aunt Emily -- she was so kind and generous . '' -LRB- Even if we never really liked her -- but then , it 's Christmas . -RRB-

Next up are the seasonal songs that really have little or nothing to do with the holiday . Once again , those marketers have honed their skills at pulling our sentimental heartstrings . Dean Martin singing `` Let It Snow ! Let it Snow ! Let it Snow ! '' Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark doing `` Baby , it 's Cold Outside . '' -LRB- This song of trying to entice a young lady to stay was written for the film `` Neptune 's Daughter , '' with Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban . -RRB-

Judy Garland singing `` Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas '' in the 1944 film `` Meet Me In St. Louis '' and dozens more all have great images , and are all seasonal . Did you know that `` Jingle Bells '' was originally titled `` One Horse Open Sleigh '' and was written in the late 1850s by James Pierpont , to be performed during a Thanksgiving service at his Unitarian church in Savannah , Georgia ? The congregation enjoyed it so much that it was repeated during Christmas services , and `` Jingle Bells '' took off from there .

Of course , Christmas is children . There are the novelty songs written for kids -- like the one about the most famous reindeer of all , Rudolph . He came prancing into our lives when we were young with his shiny red nose and never left the roof . Then there are Jimmy Boyd 's `` All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth '' , The Singing Dogs version of `` Jingle Bells '' and Homer and Jethro 's `` Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer . '' Songs only a kid could like .

But my favorite has to be Lou Monte 's `` Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey . '' And how about `` I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas , '' by Gayla Peevey ? Somebody please explain why anybody would buy that song .

So here 's the question : What is this all about ? The emotional and often wonderful snapshots of our lives , past and present , all wrapped up for Christmas . Have we been duped into loving this holiday ? Absolutely not .

I realized a while ago that indeed we all need a little Christmas . The security of home , family and friends is essential .

So this marketing campaign that started with our first footsteps is fine -- we need it . Is there a Santa Claus ? Have I been a good boy ? Or , as Nat King Cole famously asked : Do reindeer really know how to fly ? Yes , of course , to all those questions . Would n't it have been nice if those marketing guys figured out a way to make those 12 days of Christmas last for the other 353 days of the year ?

So deck the halls and please stop leaving Santa those fattening chocolate chip cookies -- he 's gained a lot of weight during the past 200-plus years . And I say unto ye -- Fa la la la la , la la la la .

Happy holidays , cousins .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bruce Morrow .

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Bruce Morrow says nothing stirs emotions as powerfully as Christmas songs do

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He points out the various tunes : Classic carols , religious music , silly songs for kids

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`` Cousin Brucie '' points out that many seasonal tunes have nothing to do with the holidays

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Morrow says magic of the holiday lies in the security of home , family , friends